The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella is a stage musical. Cast *Susan Johnson - Cleo *Jo Sullivan - Rosabella *Lee Cass - The Postman/The Cashier *Robert Weede - Tony *Mona Paulee - Marie *Shorty Long - Herman *Lanier Davis - Clem *Richard Hermany - Jake *Roy Lazarus - Al *Art Lund - Joe *Arthur Rubin - Giuseppe *Rico Froehlich - Pasquale *John Henson - Ciccio *Keith Kaldenberg - The Doctor Plot In the Golden Gate Restaurant in San Francisco in 1927, tired and harassed young waitress Cleo commiserates with her friend. Cleo's feet hurt and her friend has had to fend off the cashier's advances. As they clean up, Cleo's friend finds a jeweled tie pin and a note addressed to the friend as "Rosabella," written in odd broken English. She decides to answer, thinking of the possibilities. In Napa, the mailman has a letter for Tony Esposito, who has been enjoying a "mail order love affair" for the past four months. Tony, a large and hearty older Italian immigrant and a successful grape farmer, happily shows the crowd the picture of his "girlfriend". Meek farmhand Herman expresses admiration of his boss's initiative in pursuing Rosabella. But as Tony prepares to send his own picture in return, his sister Marie points out that he is too old and unattractive for a beautiful young woman like Rosabella, and he accepts that she is probably right. At that moment Joe, the young, handsome and nomadic farm foreman, arrives to tell Tony that he plans to leave town and travel somewhere else. Tony sees his opportunity and asks Joe for a photograph as a memento, then sends it as his own to his beloved. Several weeks later, Rosabella has agreed to come to Napa and marry Tony, but as he prepares to leave for the bus station to collect her, imagining their future together, he discovers to his horror that Joe has remained in town longer than planned to attend the wedding. Rosabella arrives at the farm with the postman and meets Joe, only to discover that he is not Tony. Upset at the subterfuge, she starts to leave. However, Tony has been injured in a truck accident en route to the bus station, and he pleads with Rosabella to stay and marry him immediately in case he does not live. She relents and they marry. Joe, who now must stay to run the ranch during Tony's convalescence, is upset but tries to comfort her, and in a moment of mutual weakness they embrace. A week later, Joe and Rosabella regret their indiscretion, and at the encouragement of Tony's doctor, the newlywed couple makes a fresh start. Cleo arrives in Napa, revealing that Tony has sent for her and offered her a job to keep Rosabella company, and she immediately takes a dislike to Marie but hits it off with fellow Texan Herman. As time passes, Tony and Rosabella grow closer, Marie feels increasingly lonely, and Joe longs to travel again. Marie tries to convince Tony that the age difference between him and Rosabella is too great, and he believes her even though Rosabella herself indicates otherwise. Cleo and Herman also grow closer, though she is frustrated by his passive, compliant nature. She urges Rosabella to tell Tony of her feelings, as Tony is treating her like a child rather than a wife. Tony, overjoyed by Rosabella's expression of love, discards his cane. Later Rosabella collapses at a party, and the doctor tells her she is pregnant (with Joe's child). She is upset by this news, and Cleo rushes her away before she can tell the still-overjoyed Tony. In Tony's barn a short time later, Cleo hints to Herman that she may be leaving but he remains unbelievingly cheerful, to her frustration. As the preparations for the wedding party are taking place, the doctor asks the community to leave the couple alone for a little while. Rosabella tells Tony she is pregnant. Tony rejects her in a rage when she reveals that Joe is the father. She and Cleo leave to return to San Francisco, but when Tony learns that Joe is leaving as well, he concludes that they are leaving together and rushes to the bus station with a gun to confront them. When he discovers that Joe has already left, however, he resolves to forgive her. Marie begs her brother to let her go and snatches away his cane to prevent him from leaving, but Cleo attacks her and grabs it back. Brutish farmhand Pasquale intervenes in the struggle, and Herman finally finds the nerve to stand up for her by striking Pasquale. Tony convinces Rosabella to return to their home, where they will tell their friends and the townspeople Tony is the father. Musical numbers ;Act I * "Ooh! My Feet!" - Cleo * "I Know How It Is" - Cleo * "The Letter" - Rosabella * "Maybe He's Kind of Crazy" - Rosabella * "Somebody, Somewhere" - Rosabella * "The Most Happy Fella" - Tony and Company * "The Letter Theme" - Marie and Tony * "Standing on the Corner" - Herman, Jake, Clem and Al * "Joey, Joey, Joey" - Joe * "Soon You Gonna Leave Me, Joe" - Tony * "Rosabella" - Tony * "Abbondanza" - Pasquale, Giuseppe and Ciccio * "Plenty Bambini" - Tony * "Sposalizio" - Giuseppe, Ciccio, Pasquale and Company * "Special Delivery!" - The Postman * "Benvenuta" - Pasquale, Ciccio and Giuseppe * "Aren't You Glad?" - Rosabella * "No Home, No Job" - Rosabella * "Eyes like a Stranger" - Marie * "Don't Cry" - Joe ;Act II * "Fresno Beauties"/"Cold and Dead" - Ensemble, Joe and Rosabella * "Love and Kindness" - The Doctor * "Happy to Make Your Acquaintance" - Tony, Rosabella and Cleo * "I Don't Like This Dame" - Marie and Cleo * "Big D" - Herman, Cleo and Ensemble * "How Beautiful the Days" - Tony, Rosabella and Joe * "Young People" - Marie, Tony and Ensemble * "Warm All Over" - Rosabella * "Old People" - Tony * "I Like Everybody" - Herman and Cleo * "I Love Him" / "I Know How It Is (Reprise)" - Rosabella and Cleo * "Like a Woman Loves a Man" - Rosabella and Tony * "My Heart Is So Full of You" - Tony and Rosabella * "Mamma, Mamma" - Tony ;Act III * "Prelude Act III" * "Abbondanza (Reprise)" - Pasquale, Giuseppe and Ciccio * "Goodbye, Darlin'"/"I Like Everybody (Reprise)" - Cleo and Herman * "Song of a Summer Night" - The Doctor and Ensemble * "Please Let Me Tell You" - Rosabella * "Tell Tony and Rosabella Goodbye for Me" - Joe * "She Gonna Come Home Wit' Me" - Tony * "Nobody's Ever Gonna Love You" - Marie and Tony * "I Made a Fist" - Cleo and Herman * "Finale" - Tony, Rosabella and Ensemble Most Happy Fella, The